Aliens (Naruto)
by SSTR87
Summary: Naruto finds himself trained by someone that is known as a nexus of chaos while Jiraiya undergoes training of his own for the three year gap. Upon Naruto's return many things are going to change. Thanks a lot for bringing your chaos to our world, Ranma... Crossover with Ranma 1/2, Naruto and the Alien and Species movies
1. Chapter 1

**Aliens Naruto**

Out in the middle of the sands of Wind Country, a giant structure shimmered into being. The structure was completely foreign to any that this planet had ever seen. A few jets of flaming metal rocketed from the hull, glowing red hot in its passing.

An older teenaged boy with red hair happened to stroll out of the village. This particular young man happened to be the village's leader, his title was Kazekage, and he went by the name of Gaara. To his side appeared a teenaged boy wearing face paint like a doll or puppet, on his back was strapped a large sack wrapped in bandages.

"Gaara, what do you think it is?" he asked of his village leader.

The redhead turned to the man with the make up. "I don't know, but Shukakku is restless. He says he feels a foreboding presence." Gaara crossed his arms and began to trek into the sands, the man in make up following close behind. "Perhaps you should inform the rest of our forces to prepare for an attack. I'm heading in to investigate," Gaara relayed, never taking his gaze from the structure.

Elsewhere in the desert a pair of men were walking calmly, each dressed in black robes and rain hats that completely hid each one's body from the heat of the day. One seemed to be shambling and sliding with each step he took the other had an insane grin on his face as he watched the jets of superheated metal explode.

"Now _**THAT'S**_ art!" the blonde called out.

His partner wheezed out a sigh. "Shut up, Deidara. We have our mission, we can play in that burning building later..." he offered the last as his partner's demeanor darkened.

Deidara gave a nod and put on his game face, readying for a fight. "You sure your spy is going o have everything ready?" he questioned of his hunchbacked companion.

The man looked up at his partner and shrugged. "My spies have never been caught, nor were they ever compromised."

Deidara's evil smile quickly came back as he shoved a hand into a brown satchel at his hip. "Well, well... Lookey over there. Our target has come all this way just to meet us," Deidara shouted, gaining the attention of the redhead standing on the top of the burning structure.

The sands of the desert began to stir, shifting about, back and forth beneath the feet of the redhead. As the jets of red-hot metal would near him, a wall of sand would protect the teen, controlled on its own. "And who might you two be?" the teen asked, his voice completely calm as he spoke.

Sasori looked at the Kazekage with indifference before turning towards a gaping hole in the side of the structure. He could swear he just saw a shadow moving. "Deidara. Make your fight quick, but don't damage this thing. I'm going to go explore the inside. If you get me buried I'm going to get free and turn you into one of my puppets.

Deidara let his tongue hang out as he smirked at his teammate. "Fine! But I might forget not to kill him," he threatened. _'No way are you gonna get to explore this thing alone! I saw it first!'_ he thought in challenge.

Sasori glared at the man, his eyes narrowing into reptile like slits. "You'd better not, or you'll be explaining to Leader-sama," he threatened as he took his first step into the structure, his right hand hold the top of the hole with one leg in and one leg out.

Deidara grumbled and crossed his arms. "Fine..." he said in defeat.

"Are you two dimwits finished yet?" Gaara asked as he had already climbed down the structure and was now standing immediately behind the blonde.

Deidara quickly rounded, narrowing his eyes. "Damn! He's fast and quiet!" he groused as he pulled out the hand that was in his pouch. He tossed out a glob of clay shaped like a bird and put his hands into a seal. The bird clay suddenly expanded and became a man-sized creature with the ability to move of its own volition. With a grin Deidara hopped on top only for Gaara to encase the clay creature in sand and squeeze.

**BOOOOM!**

**Chapter 1**

**(Inside The Structure**

Sasori, the shambling man was making his way about the structure. He could feel more kill intent in here than anywhere he'd ever been in his life. However he could sense no Chakra. It made him feel uneasy. The hallway he was walking through was half lit by a strobing red light. For a moment he had full vision then the light would fade and he was left in the darkness again. _'Well, this doesn't add to my uneasy feeling,'_ he thought sarcastically as he continued forward.

As he continued walking he could hear a sizzling hiss sound behind him. Using his instincts the ninja spun about to see some kind of white fluid dripping from the floor above to the floor below. It seemed to be a most impressive acid. "Hm, If I can find a way to contain it, I should be able to reproduce it and use it for a jutsu or poison," he thought aloud. After all, any acid that turned metal to a substance as flimsy as paper had to have its merit.

As he was studying the fluid he missed the shadow that seemed to move behind him, reflecting the image of his back...

That's when the explosion happened.

Sasori reached out quickly to hold himself against the structure of the hallway, hoping against all hope that he wouldn't be crushed due to Deidara's inconsideration. "Damn that explosion-obsessed blonde," he cursed as he stood back up, the structure no longer vibrating.

As Sasori fond his footing he watched as several black creatures with insect-like carapace and four limbs crawled along the walls of the ship in his direction. He smirked a bit as he watched them near him. "So you're the ones giving off the kill intent... No wonder I didn't recognize any chakra, you're just overgrown ants!" he called out as he shook his head.

"Maybe I'll keep one or two of you? It'll be fun to see what you do when introduced to an Aburame," he offered, knowing the insect-like creatures could not respond. As the black shelled creatures glared at him with eyeless heads and acid-saliva dripping mouths, Sasori considered the situation. There was no way any of these creatures could stop him. After all he was a puppet master, right?

(Outside)

Deidara was running along the sands, trying to prevent from being snagged by Gaara's sand assault. It's not exactly an easy thing to do; running away while on top of your enemy's weapon of choice in his home field, and without backup. "Dammit, Sasori, I'm so gonna kill you when I get out of here!" her shouted into the gaping hole in the side of the structure.

He took a moment to reach into his bag of clay and let his palm mouths chew on some. It only took a few moments to get enough and sent a dozen clay spiders at Gaara, sending his chakra and animating them.

It took considerable self control not to cackle at the explosions rocking the desert. In the end as he released more and more spiders, Deidara let loose and laughed like a mad man.

Gaara, the young redhead was not enjoying himself nearly as much as his foe. For one, the blonde was far faster than Gaara anticipated, and anytime he was about to grab hold of him, the blonde would send a barrage of clay explosives his way. That alone was enough to infuriate the young ninja, but add to that the fact the blonde was _laughing_ at him and wouldn't shut up about his "art" and the redhead was volatile.

"DIE!" Gaara cried out as he raised an entire mile of sand, catching the blonde in it. He allowed bits of the sand to drop to focus solely on the area the blonde was in.

That was when Gaara's automatic defense kicked in. He turned his neck to the right to see something he'd never had a nightmare of. A creature on all fours with a mouth protruding from his first mouth, trying in vain to rip Gaara's face off.

Rather than react as any normal human would, Gaara squeezed the sand he had Deidara trapped in. With a satisfying **_CRUNCH_**, Gaara marveled at the rain of blood and sand before turning to his attention to the giant insect. Out in the light, Gaara could see the creature plainly.

The monster was around seven feet at its full height, it was made of an exoskeletal structure made of black chitin. He could see no eyes on the creature's elongated head. As he noted before it had a standard mouth that allowed a protruding mouth to spring from it. Its limbs were long and thin, being an insect with an exoskeleton it didn't need the massive muscles that humans required.

The creature had five fingers and toes, but they seemed to e more dexterous than a human's, and to top things off, there seemed to be more coming out.

"Okay, a few of these whatever they're called shouldn't be a problem," Gaara noted aloud as he used his sand to try and crush the one in front of him. He set the creature up with a coffin and squeezed with his usual might.

However unlike usual he didn't get that satisfying crunch noise. Gaara tilted his head and looked at the sand tightly wrapping the creature and squeezed again, harder this time, but still got no results.

"... Sand Burial!" he shouted putting all of his strength into his killing attack. He heard a distinctive crack and watched as sizzling ooze poured from the sand, seeming to burn his sand to ash as it dripped.

"Well, maybe this _will_ be a problem," he assessed in annoyance. Just as he finished his statement he was swarmed by nearly two hundred of the creatures, each attacking at his automatic-defense...

(Inside the ship)

Sasori was not having a god day. Not at all! He'd used his initial form to strike at the two attacking insects only to have their "blood" melt his tail to a stump. Granted they died, but the gases their ooze created while melting the floor of the structure was gumming up the joints of his puppet body, making it difficult to move his primary body.

As he gained control of his body, he was accosted again, this time by a group of five. With his tail being out of commission, the puppet master fired a series of kunai at the aggressors. He watched with bated breath as the kunai bounced harmlessly off of the carapace of the creature's head.

"Damn... This is not what I was expecting," he complained as he was swarmed by the five. His body was ripped to shreds by protruding mouths and acid saliva. Without warning a puff of white smoke appeared a distance over, drawing the attention of the five to a new target as the one they were attacking didn't seem to have any nutrients.

Sasori glared at his damaged puppet lying on the ground behind the five attackers. "Let's even the odds, shall we?" he challenged as he brought out five puppets to fight these creatures. He may only have a puppet's body but with the blood these things had he didn't want to take the chance of being bled on.

As he directed the puppets, he watched as each creature overpowered the insects, killing them while receiving damage. "Damn, already down six puppets... How am I gonna get out of this one without losing more?" he questioned.

Sasori quickly collected his damaged puppets and sealed them before dashing down the hallway to find safety.

**End of Chapter**

**Alright, another Naruto-verse story idea I came up with. I doubt it will go much further than this. If anyone wants to take it over, feel free.**

**SSTR87**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Elsewhere on the planet, far away from the amazing action, a young teenaged boy was just returning to his village after a period of over two years on a training journey. The young teenager gave a big smirk as he stood atop the highest point on the Hokage tower, overlooking the village.

"Alright! I'm finally back!" he cheered.

At that same moment a hawk flew into the tower, landing with a coded message tied to its leg. Naruto had no idea about the hawk, or the message, so he jumped down to the window of the village's leader. "Obaa-chan!" he called merrily with a huge grin on his face.

Within the room a woman instinctively took the book she was reading and flung it out of the window at the blonde. "N-Naruto? When did you get back?" she asked, a surprised look on her face.

Naruto merely climbed in the window and rubbed the back of his head. "I just got back a moment ago. I thought I'd come and see you before heading to Ichiraku's," he said jovially.

The blonde woman watched him as he turned to look out the window, viewing the village of his birth. His home. "Welcome back, Naruto-kun. Have you seen any of your graduating class?" she asked. It seemed the boy had something on his mind.

"No, granny. I haven't..." he answered, his words distant.

Tsunade had a pensive look on her seemingly young face. "What's wrong, brat?" she demanded.

Naruto shook his head as he retreated from the window. "I've just got this weird feeling... It's been eating at me all day," he explained.

Tsunade steepled her hands as she leaned forward in her desk, narrowing her eyes. "Where's Jiraiya?" she asked. That man was supposed to be bringing Naruto back and filling her in.

Naruto shrugged. "I haven't seen him in about a year and a half," he answered honestly. "The last time I saw him, we were being reverse summoned to Mt Myobokuzan and there was some weird mishap..." At this Naruto gave a long-winded sigh and looked into the sky.

Tsunade's gaze hardened even more. "Explain. What happened?"she demanded, eyes locked on the blonde's face with a steel like vice.

Repressing a shudder, Naruto sat down in front of the Hokage, getting comfortable. "Well, we found ourselves on another version of Earth. Only there weren't any ninja, and most of the planet was covered in concrete structures not just the buildings, but the streets and these things they called overpasses and highways and all kinds of stuff!" Naruto rambled until Tsunade gave the boy a swat over the back of the head and a pensive glare that said "get to the point".

"While there we met a guy named Saotome Ranma. He took us to a place in China called The Musk Dynasty. While we there I trained under the prince, a man named Herb that turns into a girl when he gets splashed with cold water, just like Ranma-nii."

Tsunade held a hand up and rubbed her temple. "I'm getting a migraine. How does one turn into a female when splashed by water? And how do they turn back to guys? For that matter, how do they know they aren't actually women?" Tsunade asked rapid-fire as she took a sip of some sake.

Naruto laughed. "Jiraiya said the same thing so they took him to the place they got cursed and threw him in! HAHAHA! He turns into a wrinkly old woman! With a mustache!" he managed to get out as he guffawed.

Tsunade had an incredulous look on her face. "So how did you two get separated?" she demanded.

Naruto fought to gain control over his laughing and settled for sniggers. "The idiot went to the village of Amazons and challenged the most beautiful and dangerous one to a fight," he began, pausing at the memory as he sniggered.

Tsunade's eyes widened a moment. "You mean he lost?" she asked, getting Naruto to shake his head. "So he won?" she asked, there was a small hint of sorrow in her voice even if it didn't make it to her eyes.

Naruto nodded and lost control as he went into fits of laughter. "B- But... They said he was... he was too old! So he went to look for the fountain of youth," he finished.

Tsunade nodded her head as she took another long drink of her sake. "And how did you get back if you didn't leave with Jiraiya?"

Naruto held back a laugh, "Well, you see..."

**FLASHBACK**

Naruto looked down on the elder toads on the floor. "But, Jiraiya's not here! He's off searching for a fountain of youth to become young again so he can marry his Amazon girlfriend," Naruto tried.

Fukusaku, the elder male toad tut-tutted at Naruto. "That's Jiraiya-boy's problem. He knows better than ta go off gallivantin when he's supposed ta be trainin ya," he said in a stern voice. "Besides, do ya know how much trouble it was to track you to this world? This place is so twisted in chaos we almost di'nt come ta gitcha out!"

Naruto grumbled. "Awww man, but I was gonna finally get an all out spar with Ranma-nii and Herb-nii," he whined. "They're so strong it's not even funny!" he added.

Fukusaku shook his head. "I di'nt come fer dem. N I ain' waitin' fer ya to git hurt again," he stated firmly.

Naruto thought about something. "Hey, Old Frog Fukusaku, if I wanted to, could I offer the frog summoning contract to them? That way we can stay in contact?"

Fukusaku shook his head violently. "No! Absolutely not! I don't want nothin ta do with this place! Once we leave, we be gone!"

Naruto grumbled. "Well, at least let me say goodbye..."

Fukusaku nodded

**END FLASHBACK**

"Anyway, so I left with Fukusaku-sama and arrived here. I don't know where or when Ero-sennin will arrive."

Tsunade nodded. "Wait here, Kakashi and Sakura will be here shortly," she ordered.

The moment the words left her mouth a knock was heard at the door. "Lady Tsunade," came the soft voice of Shizune as she opened the door to see Naruto. For a moment she flushed red. While Naruto had left a little boy in his return he looked completely different!

His body was slim and cut, and now she could no longer feel his chakra spilling into the air. With each movement she could see his toned muscle stretch and flex as it pulled his white tank top taut. He appeared to have gotten a wardrobe change during his training, as he now wore a white wife-beater and a set of black tangs with a golden Kyuubi up the right leg, its tails as tendrils seemed to actually move, swaying lazily side to side, as he stood there.

Those cute whiskers the boy had when left were now gone, showing his normal face instead, and his blonde hair had grown out, cascading over his shoulders, similar to a Chinese hero or a beautiful princess.

"Hey, Shizune-nee-chan, how are you?" he asked with a big smile. The smile made the older woman blush before she hid behind the clipboard she was carrying. "N-N-Naruto?!" she asked in disbelief.

Naruto chuckled and nodded. "Yup, it's me!" he called out with a big grin.

Poor Shizune had forgotten her entire reason for being there and fainted, dead on the spot.

"Shizune?!" Tsunade and Naruto cried in unison as they raced to check on her.

It was at that moment that Sakura walked in through the doorway, looking rather nervous. The moment she saw her upperclassman unconscious she rushed inside and started first aid, checking for signs of viral infections.

"Is she alright?" asked a foreign male voice. A voice Sakura had never heard before, yet it made her a bit drawn to it, as if it should be familiar. "Well, I don't see anything wrong physically, apparently she just fainted," Sakura explained as she hefted the larger woman and set her on the couch, propping a pillow behind her head.

Sakura looked up for the first time and blushed at the bishonen before her. 'Holy crap, he's cute!' she thought. Her inner-self decided to toss in its own thoughts on the matter. **'CHA! He might be hot, but I doubt he's tough! He's probably too worried he'll****break a nail!'**

The boy extended a hand while speaking. "Sakura-chan! You even more beautiful than I remember you!" he said as he greeted the girl, helping her to her feet.

Sakura's blush increased exponentially as he held her hand. Honestly she hadn't heard anything he said as she stared directly into his eyes. She almost cried when the young man pulled his hand away from her. "Ano... Who? Who are you?" she asked weakly.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess it's the hair, huh?" he asked Tsunade who was hiding her lower face as she snickered. For Sakura the body language was standing out like a sore thumb, but she couldn't place it. "It's me, Naruto..." he offered, shocking the girl even more.

**'Hotcha! You better bag that blonde before Ino tries to sink her claws into him!'** Inner Sakura demanded, pumping a fist into the air. Sakura nodded weakly at her inner mind. 'B-But, what about Sasuke-kun?'

For a moment silence was all the noise in the pinkette's head. Finally Inner-Sakura pulled out a poster of each Naruto and Sasuke, declaring in a loud booming voice, **'We shall have them both!'**

Tsunade and Naruto watched in silence as Sakura was having a conversation in her own head until the point she blasted back with a nosebleed. "Holy crap?! What's wrong with these girls, Baachan?" Naruto asked as he sat in the chair again. "If Kakashi-sensei passes out too, I'm gonna declare a plague!" he threatened, ready to bolt.

Tsunade lost it and fell to the ground laughing. "Naruto, you idiot!" she shouted between gut-wrenching laughs.

**An Hour Later**

Naruto was walking through the village, knowing it would be a waste of a good day to sit around in the office waiting on Kakashi, the world's latest ninja.

Instead he was heading out around the village, looking for a place to train. Normally he'd have rushed to his favorite food stall, but eating was the last thing on his mind right now. The most important thing he'd taken away from his training with Ranma and Prince Herb was that training was above everything else. When you got old you could sit around eating ramen or playing board games, but the young needed to train to to survive their youth. Especially in a ninja village.

He wasn't sure, but he was guessing his teammate and the woman he considered an older sister were both awake by now. His thoughts were drawn onto the three people in front of him. "Hey, Kiba," he called out.

Kiba paused in his ranting and turned to the newcomer. For a moment he glared at the blonde until he caught a whiff of the scent. "Wh-what the hell? Naruto?!" he asked incredulously.

Naruto nodded as he stepped up to the two visible ninja. Off to the side, where he felt the third chakra signature, Naruto heard a squawk and a thump. "Who was that?" he asked of Kiba.

The boy looked over to the tree and shrugged. "It smells like Hinata. Akamaru?" he called out. A deep bark echoed throughout the small street as a four-foot tall dog leaped down into the alleyway. Kiba pointed towards the unconscious girl. The giant dog walked over to the girl and licked her face, rousing her.

"By the way, whose the guy in the coat with sunglasses?" Naruto asked, pointing to the third male in the area.

The unnamed man sagged his shoulders as he spoke to Naruto. "You know it's not nice to recognize one friend but not the other," he explained.

Naruto frowned, trying to understand. "Yeah, but you see, you and I weren't really friends in the Academy, and we never really talked after graduation," he noted as he doodled on Shino's cheeks.

Kiba was busy with his dog trying to nurse his female teammate to health. "Hey, if you guys are done, we gotta meet with Team Asuma," he called out as Hinata sat up.

Naruto looked up. "Really? You guys doing a mission together or something?" he asked.

Shino shook his head in the negative. "No, we're all spending lunch together today."

Naruto nodded. "Well, I was heading out to train, but I guess I can hangout for a bit," he reasoned, ignoring the sound of his stomach.

Kiba and Shino deadpanned while Hinata blushed crimson. Naruto couldn't help his outburst. He blamed it on Lime, one of Prince Herb's personal servants. "Sugoiyo!" he cried out as he suddenly appeared in front of Hinata, poking at her breasts. "Man, these are huge! I can't believe how soft they are, too," he commented.

Hinata nearly died as Naruto began to touch her. Her mind completely shut down as her body continued to stand there, being fondled. Within her mind Hinata was undergoing a reboot. 'Naruto-kun is touching my breasts?!' she asked as she took stock of the world around her.

Naruto continued fondling the girl as his shadow clones (one henged as Hinata) walked away with Shino and Kiba, neither realizing they were being duped. Naruto, now in private with Hinata asked a question the girl was so not ready for. "Hinata-chan... Wanna by my wife? I love your boobies! They are sooo perfect."

"N-Naruto-kun? I... I would love to," she offered as the blonde tossed his beautiful hair over his shoulders to his back. Naruto gave a large smile and kissed the girl's lips, trying for a new experience.

Hinata, flushing red, fell to the ground unconscious at the contact. Naruto grinned and picked her up. "Haven't been in the Hyuuga Compound in a few years," he thought aloud as he carried the girl on his shoulder.

**Korean BBQ Restaurant**

Naruto, Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru and Shino all entered the restaurant, being greeted by Ino and Choji.

"Yo!" Choji greeted, wearing his family's samurai-style armor.

To Choji's side Ino was eying up the blonde bishonin. "Hey, who's the hunk?"

Said blonde walked up to his fellow blonde, comparing his full, luscious locks to Ino's neat, straight hair. "Hm, seems my hair is fuller than yours, Ino," he noted in his husky deep voice.

Ino flushed before pulling her hair away. "Excuse me, sir. But, how do you know my name?" she asked, not recognizing the young man.

Naruto gave a wink. "It's me, Uzumaki Naruto. It's the hair isn't it?" he asked.

Ino nodded dumbly. Choji's jaw hit the floor as a young, newly-appointed Jounin entered the shop, his hair tied up in a wolf's tail that happened to resemble a pineapple. "'Sup? Hey Naruto, you're back," he commented idly, somehow discerning the boy's identity.

Ino elbowed Shikamaru and asked directly, "How did you know it was Naruto-kun? He looks so different! And look, no whiskers!" she said pulling Naruto's cheeks out. Naruto swatted her hand away and glared at the girl.

Shikamaru waved his hand flippantly as he walked towards a seat. "His pants have an image of the Kyuubi. No other ninja in their right minds would do something like that," he remarked, taking his seat.

A collective, "Oh" echoed throughout the establishment as even the bystanders hadn't noticed. Several ANBU left the room alongside a handful of Jounin at the recognition of the ninja with the unfamiliar face.

"Umm... Why all the suspicion?" Naruto asked.

**In Tsunade's Office**

Tsunade looked at Kakashi, as he finally made his way into the Hokage's Tower, and thusly her office. "Yo," he greeted, raising a hand.

Tsunade tried to resist the tick forming in her right eyebrow. "ANBU go get Naruto, right now!" she demanded. The ANBU appeared with a puff and quickly jumped out of the window in search of Naruto.

Sakura looked up to Kakashi and shook her head in annoyance. "Mo... Honestly, Kakashi-sensei, you could have come around sooner, right?" she asked of her team sensei. The silver-haired Jounin shrugged and gave her an eye smile.

Before the Jounin could say anything a loud puff was heard as Naruto appeared within the office, alongside the ANBU sent after him. "Geez, what's with the ANBU? All you had to do was call for me," Naruto complained as he tied up the string for his tangs.

Sakura noted this action and asked, "Why were you in the toilet?"

Naruto shook his head, "No. I was just about to lose my virginity when this jerk snatched me," he said as he pointed an accusatory finger at the ANBU.

"V... Virginity?!" Sakura cried incredulously. Inside her head the Inner-Sakura was raging. "With who?" she demanded, getting right into Naruto's face and shaking him like a rag doll by his wife beater.

Naruto held up his hands in a defenseless manner as his eyes swirled in their sockets. "Calm down... I'm gonna marry her... eventually."

A book soared through the air and nailed Naruto between the eyes, making him fall to the ground twitching as his hands formed Hawaiian-style signs. "Naruto, you idiot! Don't give me any more paperwork! I've already gotten twenty-five complaints of an unknown ninja drifting around the village! Now, go cut your hair and get dressed in something orange, brat!" Tsunade demanded.

Naruto was suddenly on her desk in a crouched position, glaring at her. "Now why the hell would I wear something orange?" he asked as he pulled out an orange bandana and tied it around his forehead, moving his forehead protector to his right upper arm.

Sakura watched this transpire while having an inner conversation. 'But, he just put on something orange...' she noted. **'Shut it, Sakura! Don't let him cut his hair!' **Inner-Sakura demanded.

Just as Naruto was binging up a pair of scissors to his hair, Sakura ran over and took the blades. "N-No Naruto-kun, don't do it!" she cried out.

"My-my," Kakashi worded as he stared at the two. "A love-love triangle?" he teased, pointing at the two.

Sakura and Naruto blushed gazing into the others' eyes in a private eternity, birds chirping softly in the background and the sounds of harps in the background, before letting the other go.

"Anyway..." Tsunade called out, gaining everyone's attention. "I want you two to show me how much you've actually improved since the last time you were here. Show me your training wasn't a waste of time," Tsunade requested.

Naruto stood to his full height, still on top of the desk. "Okay! Who's our opponent? I'll take on anyone in the village!" he challenged, wiping his nose with his right thumb.

Tsunade pointed at Kakashi. "You'll both be facing him," she intoned.

Naruto grinned and jumped for joy, pumping a fist in the air. "ALRIGHT! Let's get this party started!" he called out as his hand and head went through the ceiling, forgetting the added height of the desk.

"..." Naruto noted as he kicked his legs feebly, trying to free himself.

"..." Sakura intoned, trying to figure out if Naruto was for real.

"**..."** Inner-Sakura remarked as a dust ball floated through the mindscape.

"..." Tsunade commented as her head throbbed with barely restrained anger, a tick mark nearly her own height growing suddenly larger on her forehead.

Kakashi sweatdropped. "Um, wouldn't you rather spend some time winding down after your trip here?" he offered. After falling to the floor, freeing himself and many chips of ceiling debris, Naruto shook his head in the negative. "No way, that damn elder frog interrupted me right before my big spar with Ranma-nii and Prince Herb-nii," he offered as he hopped off the desk.

Kakashi shrugged. "Okay, meet me at the training grounds in 1 hr," the one-eye ninja offered as he walked out of the door.

**Korean BBQ Restaurant**

"WHAT?! You mean everyone's gone up a rank, except me?" he demanded as Shikamaru cleaned his ear with a pinky. "Yeah. Most of our classmates are Chuunin now, with a couple exceptions. I'm a Jounin as is Shino and Neji," he offered.

Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "By the way, who's your girlfriend?" he asked with a sly look at Temari. Temari blushed as the blonde's attention was focused solely on her. "I'm not his girlfriend," she offered.

Shikamaru sighed, expressing his feelings on the matter. "This is Temari, and her brother Kankuro, both siblings of Gaara, are now Jounin as well."

"Seriously!?" Naruto demanded, looking down at his feet as he took stock. "What about Gaara?"

"Hm? Gaara? He's the Kazkage now."

Naruto's eyes steeled. "Well, then... I guess that just means I'll have to work extra hard to become the next Hokage!" Naruto shouted. Several people eating in the restaurant looked at the noisy blonde and turned back to eating.

"Yeah, yeah.. Enough of that. Let's have a bite to eat, I'm starvin," Choji called out as he took a bit of beef and tossed it onto the grill in front of him.

Naruto nodded and sat next to Hinata, neither really eating as they made small talk.

**Training Grounds**

Naruto and Sakura casually strolled around in the place they were trained by Kakashi so many years ago. They spotted three giant logs, logs that Kakashi had once used to tie Naruto to as a boy.

"Man, this brings back memories," Naruto thought aloud.

Sakura was right on his heels, thinking about how handsome Naruto had become. "Hey Naruto-kun? Do you think I've changed any?" she asked hesitantly, unsure if she'd like the answer.

Naruto scrutinized over her appearance, looking her figure up and down making the girl feel like meat being graded. "Naw, you're still flat-chested and skinny.. Nothing's changed at all," he remarked.

Without warning Sakura was in front of Naruto, sending a massive, earth-shattering punch his way only to miss. "Whoa! What are ya doin?" Naruto shouted out. Sakura didn't answer as she tried to hit him again, growing angrier.

"Hold still will ya," Sakura screamed as she chased the boy, punching the ground and causing ripples in the earth. Naruto kept bouncing right out of the way, never even coming close to being hit. "Now why would I want to be hit by an uncute tomboy like you?" Naruto demanded, making the pinkette even more infuriated.

"... Uncute...? Tomboy?!" Sakura growled as her fist shook, trembling in rage. "Naruto no BAKA!" she thundered, uppercutting the blonde into the stratosphere.

It just so happened that Kakashi had chosen that moment to appear. 'Whoa! Scary...' he thought with a shudder. "Yo, Sakura. Where's your partner so we can begin the match?"

Sakura glowered, stewing in her rage. "I knocked that baka across the village," she explained, looking at Kakashi with righteous female anger.

Naruto stepped out of a bush and shook his head. "Holy crap, Sakura what did my clone ever do to you?"

Sakura glared at the blonde. "You know exactly what he said!" Naruto shook his head innocently. "It doesn't always work that way..." he tried but gave up with a shrug. "Anyway, Kakashi-sensei are we ready to spar?"

Kakashi strolled casually into the clearing as Tsunade and Shizune arrived. "Let's see how strong you are so we can return to trying to find Sasuke," he said calmly. As he looked up, he was treated to the sight of a depressed Naruto on all fours and Sakura huddled in a sitting position. 'Maybe Sasuke is a subject I shouldn't bring up around these two.'

"Okay," he said as he raised a set of bells. "You know the rules?"

Naruto grinned alongside Sakura. "Yeah, we need to attack you to get the bells," Naruto said with barely restrained energy.

Sakura nodded with a smile of her own. "And we should come at you with the intent to kill."

Kakashi nodded as he put his book away. "Don't tell me... You're not going to read this time?" Naruto accused, noting the lack of a book.

Kakashi nodded as he lifted hitae-ate, uncovering his Sharingan eye. "Not only that, but I'm going to take you two as serious as any opponent."

Naruto nodded and as soon as Kakashi was standing in a ready position he darted forward. Naruto led with a swift right spin kick that Kakashi put up a hand to block only to be sent sprawling across the clearing, tumbling end-over-end. After a few tumbles Kakashi gained his feet and skidded along the ground in a kneeling position, surprise evident in his eyes.

"Oh my god... How did Naruto do that?" he asked no one.

Before he could get to his feet, he saw a flash of black behind himself and quickly spun, catching sight of Naruto bringing an ax-kick down at his head. Not wanting a repeat of the last time, Kakashi rolled to the right, narrowly avoiding the attack, but he found himself being punched in the gut by Sakura.

To the surprise of everyone there Kakashi burst into smoke.

"Kuso!" Naruto shouted as he looked around for Kakashi. "Now where did he go?"

Sakura stood up and walked to stand beside Naruto, also looking about for Kakashi. "I have no idea."

Suddenly a voice rang out, coming from no direction but everywhere. "I didn't say go yet, you two," Kakashi drawled as he remained hidden.

Tsunade's mouth hung open at the brutal onslaught. She knew Sakura had improved,. But she hadn't suspected Naruto to have gotten as _strong_ as he had. "Honestly, brat... When will you stop surprising me?" she wondered aloud. Shizune had fallen in a dead faint, having watched the bishonen ninja out perform Kakashi.

Off to the side of the clearing Hinata was watching the match, her eyes wide, Byakugan active and her brain having shut down once again. As it rebooted she processed the information she had seen just before. 'Naruto-kun is so strong now!' she thought as she continued to watch the match.

Naruto smirked. "Fine. You want to use clones? Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he called out, created two of himself. "Let's see how you like this technique!" he challenged as he and his clones began firing off glowing balls of chakra, destroying the treeline surrounding him and Sakura.

Kakashi's eyes widened from his hiding place in the trees, even more so when his tree was hit at the base. Kakashi dashed from the tree, but the movement was caught by Naruto as Sakura had frozen in shock as did Tsunade.

Kakashi, however, was not given the luxury of remaining surprised as he found himself face-to-face with Naruto. **"****Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open-Fire)!"** he called out as he attacked Kakashi with punches that broke the sound-barrier.

Kakashi's Sharingan eye was able to see around half the blows coming in as he used his arms to take the brunt of the attacks. 'It seems he can either strike hard or strike fast, but not both,' he noted as he managed to kick Naruto away. "But, if he manages to hit me with enough of those high-speed punches the fight will be over anyway," he said morosely as he rubbed his jaw, checking if it was broken.

"Okay, no more holding back with Naruto," Kakashi intoned as he flashed his hands through seals. **"****Suiton: Suiryudan (Water Style: Dragon Bullet)!"**he called out as the ground split open and a pool of water rose. The water formed into a giant dragon with red eyes and attacked Naruto, firing a blast of water at the boy.

Naruto's eyes widened as he sent a clone to get Sakura out of the way. "Let's see if this works... **Bakusai Tenketsu (Breaking Point)!"** he called out as pushed a hand into the ground. Surprise was in the eyes of Kakashi and Tsunade as the ground erupted in an explosion. The earth swallowed up the water bullet creating a wall of mud.

Kakashi, seeing his attack thwarted continued his barrage. **"****Chidori (One Thousand Birds)!"** he called out as his right hand erupt in lightning. "This is an assassination technique, Naruto. I said I was going to be serious with you."

Naruto grinned, cracking his knuckles. "I wouldn't have it any other way!" he called out, charging his battle aura around himself. Kakashi's Sharingan eye watched the chakra wrapping around the boy's body with trepidation. 'Is this the Kyuubi?' he wondered.

Naruto charged forward, blazing fast as he attacked Kakashi. The Jounin's eyes widened as he noticed Naruto's new fighting style actually had a form. It was aggressive, yet reactive. It could adapt on the fly even while still in motion. "This kid was trained by someone amazing!" Kakashi thought aloud as he released his Chidori, focusing on Taijutsu.

Kakashi sent a kick at Naruto as the boy approached; Naruto, however, molded around the kick, sending a front thrust at Kakashi's chest. The Jounin reacted on pure instinct, moving his leg back a step to let the kick move past him. Just as Naruto was missing, he twisted in mid-flight to launch another front kick. Kakashi took the brunt of the blow as he sent a knife-edged chop at Naruto, landing the blow on his neck even as his body was sent flying.

Naruto sagged on the ground at the chop to his neck. Just as Kakashi was taking a deep breath, he watched the boy pop, turning into smoke. "What the hell? When did he?" he asked just as Naruto dropped from the sky with a cry of "Meteor Kick!"

Kakashi tried to move out the way, but Naruto seemed to fall even faster, crashing down on top of him and smashing him into the ground. Just as Naruto was hopping off, he heard a distinctive pop and looked down to see a log. "Kawarimi?" he asked.

Just then Sakura, who had gotten a chance to reboot her mind, stepped into the clearing. "Naruto, tag me in," she called out.

Naruto grinned. "How about a double-team?" he offered. Sakura grinned and gave nod. "Sounds good to me. Let's do this," Sakura cheered as she cracked her knuckles.

Naruto and Sakura charged Kakashi who happened to have strolled out of the woods. "Sigh... Well this isn't good for my health. I yield," Kakashi stated as he tossed the bells to Naruto and Sakura.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she noticed a dark spot in the bottom of his jacket, peeking out from his vest. "Okay, brats, let's leave Kakashi alone," she ordered.

Naruto groaned and Sakura nodded with a happy look on her face. Just as they agreed, Kakashi fell forward on his face. "Kakashi-sensei?"Sakura asked as Tsunade rushed over to him.

"Damn idiot," Tsunade called out as she ripped the jacket open and lifted his shirt. "How the hell did you continue fighting like this?" she asked as her hands began to glow green assessing Kakashi's injuries. "Four broken ribs, a couple ruptured organs and a cracked jaw."

Kakashi groaned as he closed his eyes tightly. "And near chakra exhaustion..." he added, his index finger raised as if lecturing the Hokage, as he moaned in pain.

**With Hinata**

Hinata was more than a little surprised as she released her Byakugan only to come face to face with Naruto. "Naruto-kun?" she asked.

The blonde's long hair seemed to shimmer exquisitely in the sunlight as he smiled at her. "Yup, it's me. Ready to go talk to pops?" he asked her. Hinata blushed and managed to nod. Naruto looked at her, seeing something in her eyes. "What is it? You know you can talk to me about anything."

Hinata looked at her feet as she twiddled her fingers. "Um... No it's nothing," she finally declared, trying her best not to hesitate in-between words.

Naruto shrugged and figured the girl would eventually open up. The two walked in a comfortable silence across the village, earning many stares of envy. The women glared at Hinata for landing the sexy hunk, while the guys glowered at Naruto for gaining the female population's interest.

It only took an hour to walk together, even hand-in-hand for half of the trip. Naruto was fighting the urge to grab Hinata's breasts but it seemed to be a losing battle as the Hyuuga kept swatting his hands away.

Finally they made it to the Hyuuga Clan's compound. "Geez, it's such a long walk!" Naruto moaned as he looked up at the sun falling rapidly in the sky. "Sometimes I forget how it feels to go at a slow pace. I wonder if this is what Ranma-nii meant by 'Stopping to smell the roses'?" he wondered.

The moment the two entered, Hiashe, Neji and Hanabi were in the antechamber, eyes locked onto the two. "Naruto," Hiashe spoke evenly, though his eyes seemed to bore a hole into the blonde's soul. "It has come to my attention that you've been quite forward with my daughter," he stated.

The blonde ninja shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that, it was a conditioned response! A couple friends I had during my training trip got me really into boobs! Haha!" he laughed lamely.

An angry tick appeared in Hiashe's forehead. "Come to my meeting room. There is much to discuss, _boy_," Hiashe demanded as he turned to lead the way. "Hinata, Hanabi, remain with Neji."

Naruto thought it was quite cool how Hiashe ordered the girls without ever looking back, yet he knew they would obey. 'I'm so gonna be a badass Hokage and do things like that!' he thought with a grin.

**End of Chapter**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"WHAT?!" Naruto exclaimed, as he rose to his feet, slamming a palm down on the table. With one foot propped on the low table and his hands balled into fist, he glared at Hiashe with a burning fire in his eyes. "You expect me to marry both girls?" he asked incredulously.

Hiashe glared at the foot leaving a dirty print on his table. "Yes," he stated plainly. "Such is the case in this situation. If there are two boys then the stronger and more talented takes over as the Clan head, but in the case of two females they get to marry the same man. Either one they both love or the best male in the Branch House."

Naruto sat down, his back to the table as he grumbled. Tho if one could see his face they would see a huge, goofy, perverted grin. "I guess I have no choice but to accept this fate," he groused. He'd learned long ago to sound disappointed but never to show his poker face as his was as bad as Ranma's and Prince Herb's.

Hiashe looked at the boy, assessing the way he was pouting. "It's clear that you are willing to accept my conditions. Is your love for Hinata really so strong?" he asked.

Naruto spun around, though Hiashe wasn't sure how he managed o do so without once rising. "It's not about just my love for Hinata! Love grows and shrinks in time... This is about my love of BOOBIES!" he thundered as he was once again standing, casting a genjutsu of himself standing on a rocky shoreline with giant waves crashing into the rock behind him as twin streams of tears poured down his face.

Hiashe sweatdropped.

"..."

"..."

**Elsewhere**

Teams Asuma and Kurenai had finally realized something was wrong when Hinata was bitten by an ant and summarily "popped". "H-Hinata? What the hell? A Shadow Clone? Where is the real Hinata then?" Kiba demanded, shaking Naruto.

Naruto looked at the boy in confusion. "Why do I get the blame?" Naruto complained.

Everyone deadpanned. Shikamaru sighed. "He's just a Shadow Clone himself. Naruto and Hinata were never with us to begin with," he stated. "What a drag."

"Never with us? But, Hinata's been with us all day! Even me and Akamaru could smell her!" Kiba declared as he turned on Shikamaru.

Shikamaru raised his hands indecisively and shrugged. "I can't tell you more than that. I mean, no one noticed Hinata hasn't fainted or stuttered even once this afternoon? And That Naruto," he said pointing at the blonde watching the situation unfold, "hasn't left our side, yet everyone is whispering about Naruto and Hinata wandering around holding hands."

Ino looked at Shikamaru and shivered. "You know it's creepy-scary how you do that, Shikamaru..."

The Jounin shrugged and started to walk off. "Well, Temari and I got to meet up with the other Jounin. See you later," he said as he walked away with Temari in tow. Temari cast a look behind her at the group they were walking away from. "Did you really just assess a situation that quickly?' she asked.

Shikamaru nodded. "It also helps that I'm one of the clones," he added as he puffed out of existence. "W-What the hell?" Temari demanded. "Where is that lazy bum?" she demanded as she looked about. Seeing no signs of him, Temari stalked off to the planning area of the Chuunin Exams.

**Meanwhile Atop The Hokage Monument**

Shikamaru looked up at the clouds and breathed a sigh of relief. He was so grateful Naruto offered to give him the time off instead of being harassed in the restaurant.

Sighing, Shikamaru sat up. "How troublesome. Guess I better get back to planning."

**In the Hokage Tower**

The bird that landed earlier was still perched, waiting for the command to return home. However the team of message coders were frantically trying to decode the last of the message. "Oh no!" cried one of the ninja, a young faceless ninja wearing standard Jounin attire. She had long blue hair, held back by her hitae-ite.

"I need to get this to the Hokage immediately!" she declared. In less than a moment she was out of the door and rushing through the halls seeking her village's leader.

It only took 30 seconds, but it seemed like forever to the kunoichi as she finally made it to the doors of Tsunade's office. She pushed the large wooden doors open and rushed inside. "Hokage-sama!" she declared. "A message has arrived from Sunagakure! It's urgent, she declared.

However her breath hitched and she fell in a dead faint as the chair spun around, revealing the sitting form of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. He was sitting in the chair wearing his long white robe with black flames at the bottom. He looked at the woman on the ground and wondered what her problems was.

As the Fourth rose to stand, his form shimmered, turning into that of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. She walked over to the downed ninja's body and took the letter. "Damn... ANBU! Get me all of the Rookie 8 and their instructors. Might as well bring in Temari and any other available ninja."

An ANBU with a dragon mask nodded and vanished.

**20 Miles North East of Sunagakure: Damaged Structure**

Sasori looked down at the heap of wood that was left of his impressive collection of nearly 300 puppets. "Dammit... These bugs are smarter than I thought," he griped as his remaining twelve puppets found themselves and him surrounded on all sides by more than thirty of black creatures.

Sasori had resorted to using his nation-defeating technique, only to realize, all too late that his foes were not just taking casualties, they were watching his attack style and dwindling down his forces. When he started he was killing two for every puppet, but quickly that changed as it started taking one for one and eventually three puppets for every one of the creatures.

"Well, I don't think I'm going to make it out of this one," he intoned ominously as he looked around. Out in the distance he could still see the sand shifting around as his original target was still putting up a struggle. "Kuso.. I just wanted to be immortal. To never worry about being killed or growing old or weak..."

The sounds of screeching could be heard as Sasori was lost in his thoughts. He looked up to see the many black demons part ways, their reflective heads devoid of eyes, noses or mouths following his every movement. As soon as a path was cleared, with more than one leaping forward at the puppet wielder, he realized they wanted him to go somewhere. They were giving him an escape, out into the desert, but an escape no less.

Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, Sasori took off at a dead sprint, running for all his wooden body was worth right down the path. He quickly learned, as he ran and sent his puppets towards the lineup, that if he strayed too close to either side or appeared to be deviating, the demons would pounce and shred to rivets whomever it was that broke their rules.

Sasori, heart-pumping, saw the end of the lineup in sight and hurried faster, aided by chakra. "C'mon. I'm almost there. Once I get away from these devils I'll be free to start over," he thought aloud, ignorant if the creatures could hear him. After all, they don't even have ears.

The moment Sasori's foot touched the sand immediately beyond the lineup he was shown a very unwelcome sight...

Gaara looked up from the most recent giant insect-like creature to be crushed as he panted for air.

_**AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!**_

The sound of screaming filled the air, making the Jinkchuuriki a bit uncomfortable. 'Once, not long ago I would have been the one to make someone scream like that. I guess I really have changed,' Gaara noted as he felt his defense, while slightly slower, jump to protect his back. Quickly Gaara spun around and pushed the monster away, its black as pitch chitin-like skin was covered in sand as Gaara raised it to crush it.

As Gaara squeezed, something happened that he wasn't expecting. One of the many surrounding monsters leaped at him, faster than his defense could defend and managed a solid swipe against his back.

While his full-body defense protected him from the scratch it was like blood in the water. Encouraged by the one's ability to get through, all of the creatures in wait surged forward, claws extended and mouths ready to bite.

Gaara was swarmed and dog-piled, swiftly engulfed by blackness. "No..." He began to pant, breathing harder and harder as the closed-in feeling of claustrophobia was beginning to take hold. "Get them off me..." The boy couldn't find the strength to move a single limb as the black bodies blocked out the light, pinned his arms down and tried to rend his flesh. "I can't... I can't breathe..."

Gaara's absolute armor was scratched away and bitten off in a feeding frenzy, yet each time more sand would slide into the former's place. "Please... I don't... I don't want to die... Not like this..." If not for Gaara drawing on the Ichibi's chakra in desperation he'd had been dead already.

On the inside the racoon-like tanuki was cursing the creatures as many ways as he possibly could. **"Goddam these stupid bugs! Go back to where ever the hell you came from!" **He wanted freedom, but he didn't want to be forced to wait five years to reform. Gaara growled as his prisoner as he tried with even more strength to move.

"AHHH! Get off!" Through gritted teeth Gaara managed to pull his arms together and thrust them apart, using the sand to push the attackers off of himself.

In the distance Gaara saw over a hundred ninja bounding into the area, kunai flying and shuriken ready for stabbing. Gaara wanted to warn his people but as he rose to his feet, his boy aching and muscles protesting, he felt the edges of his sight start to blacken. "No.. kunai.. don't..." he tried, his voice quiet as he fatigue was kicking in. His adrenaline from before was quickly subsiding leaving Gaara spent.

"AH! OH GOD! MY HAND! MY HAND!" Gaara could hear as the darkness claimed his eyes and he fell forward, face-first into the sand.

The shinobi within sight of Baki were surprised to hear such a crying outburst but when they turned to see the ninja they understood why! Where his hand had been was now a greenish-white substance that was eating away the flesh of his forearm even as he stared at it in panic.

The closest ninja quickly arrived and used a sword to chop off the arm at the elbow, relieving Baki of the excruciating agony. Baki fell to his backside, regulating his breathing as the ninja setup a perimeter around him. After a moment's pause, Baki stood back up, using his left hand, clutching a machete-like sword refered to as a scimitar. "What ever you do, do let them bleed on you! Their blood has a paralytic compound and also attacks the nervous system," he instructed as he leaped forward, slashing with his sword at the projected inner jaw of one of the creatures.

His sword struck true into the demon's teeth only to be rebuffed. Eyes widening slightly, Baki leaped back, sword still at the ready. "Watch out for their teeth!" he shouted.

Several screams were heard in the desert as ninja met their end, swamped by the blackness. Baki could make out several groupings of the creatures, their long, sharp-tipped black tails in the air while they seemed to be in a feeding frenzy.

"Damnit... We need to get to Gaara and get him back to the village! We can regroup when we ge-" whatever words were next would never be heard as a monster jumped on his back, tail swiping away his sword as its clawed hands ripped into Baki's face and throat. The creature projected its jaw numerously into Baki's face and neck, leaving a gurgling carcass as it rounded on the next ninja in the area.

"Oh my god... What do we do? It got Baki!" asked a young Chuunin, recently promoted a the last Chuunin exams. A Jounin grabbed him by the collar of his flack vest and pulled him close. "Calm down. We do as Baki ordered! Everyone! Get to the Kazekage and get him to safety!" the Jounin shouted.

His shouting got the message delivered, giving courage to all the lower-ranking ninja, but it also drew the attention of the carnivorous insect-like demons. So saying, the Jounin was met by five creatures, each leaping through the air, claws extended. All five tails pierced the ninja from every angle through his abdomen. Not willing to die uselessly, the ninja placed a dozen exploding tags on himself, shouting as he charged them. "Get outta here!"

**BOOOM!**

Cartilage, sinew, bones, blood, acid, and chitin flew all around the area, covering a hundred foot area, burning through anything it made contact with.

The ninja that were left turned tail, their numbers down to a mere twenty, and fled back to the village.

One particular ninja had made his way, miraculously, to stand at Gaara's side. He had two kunai drawn and knew things were looking bad for him. He feinted a motion at the monsters as they surrounded him, just staring, watching. "What the hell are they doing?" he asked himself.

The Jounin who had half of his face covered in bandage-wrap for the fashion of it, looked down at his Kage, hoping beyond hope that he would rise and get them out of this situation. Seeing the boy unmoving, the ninja cried out as he went on the offensive. "AAAHHH! MY NAME IS YURA! I'LL SEE YOU ALL IN HELL!" he declared, attacking and striking like a possessed man.

However the most unpredictable thing happened, the creatures dodged and evaded him, none retaliating and none attacking from his back side. Yura continued to swipe his sword and fire low-level jutsu at the creatures, ever-so-often making contact, yet they refused to assault him.

The ninja fell to his knees, panting as he ha spent too much energy. He saw a bit of motion and watched as several injured, yet alive, shinobi were dragged to his location, set near Gaara as well. "What the hell is going on?" he asked.

None of the ninja were in any shape to speak as Yura got his first close up look at them. Each had some kind of giant wet-looking scorpion creatures on their faces. He used a sword to stab at one and saw it was pierced easily enough, but its blood dripped into the ninja's face, melting it off. The poor man died in his sleep. Yura tried to pull his sword back but was treated to the sight of a melted blade.

"What are these things?" he wondered, in a confused voice. He watched as one of the pale pink creatures scuttled along the ground to Gaara and tried to rush to intervene. He was met by five black creatures standing in front of him, each with a tail poised to strike. Yura took an aggressive stance and was ready to die when he heard a screeching hiss behind himself.

He turned, his instincts telling him something was there. The moment he turned around, a face-hugger grabbed him and shoved a tube into his mouth, forcing itself down his throat. Yura gurgled and tried to break his poison capsule, but the creatures tube was too thick to allow him to bite down. He felt something thicker than the tube shove its way into his throat as the world went black...

**End of Chapter**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**In The Desert Outside Sunagakure**

Ichibi growled. His Jinchuuriki had once again proved to be too weak! **"Damn you, Gaara! I don't want to die! You stupid, sand-eating sonovabitch!"** he cried out. His words meant nothing as he could feel the boy dying, whatever the creature had done to him was sucking the life force out of his redheaded host.

Gaara wasn't responding to him, not even manifesting in his own mind at the seal's gate. **"Where are you pipsqueak?!" **Shukaku, the ichibi tanuki, shouted. His words were lost. But something began to happen.

The tanuki almost danced as he watched the bars to his prison melt away!

"**I'm finally gonna get out! No more Jinchuurikis!"** he shouted in early celebration. As soon as his chakra-comprised body made its way out, something appeared before the gate. It looked like the creatures on the outside, only this one was much bigger. It was easily ten feet in height and had what looked like a fan membrane along the top of its head. The creature looked at him and he could hear it.

"_What are you?"_ it asked. Perhaps "hearing" was not the right word for it. The creature spoke in Shukaku's mind with images and thoughts. The tanuki looked at the creature askance for a moment before an evil, if slightly deranged, grin appeared on its face. **"I'm gonna get out and kill everyone and everything! And I'm gonna start with your ugly ass!"** he declared as he charged the creature.

Shukaku's height far dwarfed the creature before him and he aimed to stomp on it. **"Whatever you are, I'm sorry, but you drew the short straw, bitch!"** he shouted as he brought a sandy foot down. The creature, while stomped on would not be squashed, as stubborn as the worst cockroach, and seemed to start eating the sand of the Ichibi. The Bijuu looked down to see itself being consumed and let out a roar!

"**AAAARRRRRRGGGGG! I won't be consumed again! I'm never gonna accept being sealed again! You hear me? Huh?!"** he challenged as he began to absorb the creature and the prison around himself sand swirling throughout the mindscape.

Unknown to the Ichibi, there would be side-effects to absorbing the creature and his former jailor...

**In Konoha**

"I've just received word from Sunagakure that Gaara, the Kazekage is missing. He went to investigate some kind of ruins and no one has heard from him since. They sent a letter to ask for an assault force to be sent as they don't have enough A-Rank ninja on staff. Kankuro will be waiting in Suna for your arrival. Hurry up and get over there!" Tsunade ordered as she slammed a palm on the table. All the ninja within charged out of the door, stumbling over each other as they prepared.

Temari had a pensive look on her face as she thought about her brother's fate."Don't worry too much, Temari, you'll find your brother and bring him home alive. I know it," Tsunade said calmly as she watched the kunoichi's spirit rise.

"Thanks, Hokage-sama," she replied as she darted out the door to ready her gear.

Naruto rushed to his bedroom, the first time he'd stepped into his shamble of an apartment in over two years. Even tho he'd been home for nearly a day, he didn't have any interest in coming here as he had outgrown everything and the rooms were far too small. It was a drawback to having stayed in a castle for so long.

He heard movement and darted to the right, standing on the wall in a crouched position as his eyes met what caused the disturbance with a glare. "Tora? How the hell did you get in here?" he asked the strange orange cat. For a moment he stroked his chin. "Nawww... couldn't be!" he declared as he tossed the cat outside.

"There's no Land of Cursed Springs here in my world, or I would've heard about it in class by now," he thought as he dusted his hands. Had he looked at the cat he might have seen its eyes widen to saucers as it scrambled back up the wall only to be met with a closed window.

"Well, I'm all packed," he noted as he picked up a small satchel which held a four-hundred page book. Each page canvasing a storage seal. Ranma had Jiraiya create two of them when he first saw what a storage seal could do. 'Now the whole group has them back home,' Naruto noted until he caught himself. "When did I start thinking of The Musk Dynasty as home?" he wondered. He gave a shrug and stood up, putting the satchel over a shoulder and walking out of the room.

It only took Naruto five minutes to hop along the rooftops to the main gate of Konoha. There, he was met by Hinata and Hanabi, both looking at him pensively. Naruto landed softly, not a single sound was made as his foot alighted on the ground. "Hey girls. What's up?" he asked, feeling anxiety as he gazed at them.

Hinata moved to speak, but was silenced by Hanabi. The girl was only twelve, but she already possessed her father's attitude. The one that says everything and everyone in the world is below me. "Uzumaki-san, father has declared you have taken an interest in marrying the both of us?" she declared. It may have been a question, but Naruto wasn't sure so he nodded anyway.

"Tell me one good reason as to why _I_ should accept your offer?" she demanded.

Naruto looked her in silence for a long while, and eventually squatted down to the ground as he stroked his chin in thought, eyes completely narrowed. "I'm the strongest ninja in Konoha?" he offered.

Hanabi crossed her arms and glared. "Something that you can actually prove beyond a doubt, knucklehead," she stated, losing her patience. "How about the fact that no man in his right mind would accept you two as his wives unless his life was at stake?"

Hanabi smirked and nodded. "Why would you say such a hurtful thing about Hinata-chan?" she demanded. She had already told her older sister she felt the blonde was just using her and would throw them away once he got to political power. After all a sewer rat would always strive to be an eagle; and the Hyuuga were the gods of the sky in this village.

Naruto looked at the girl like she was crazy. "I was talking about you! You're sister is full of confidence problems, but she has the boobies to make up for it," he said the last as he was suddenly behind Hinata, groping her large "talents". "But, you... You're still flat-chested. You're a heartless ruler and have no emotions for your own family. But!" Naruto said the last as loud as he could, suddenly appearing in front of Hanabi again. "If your genes did this to Hinata! I can only imagine them doing the same for you!" he declared as henge'd the girl into an older version of herself, looking similar to Hinata but with twice the size breast.

Naruto couldn't help himself as he molded the fleshy orbs into his face, making the girl blush. "PERVERT!" she cried as she tried to punch the blonde. I say "tried", but her fist made full contact with his head. However, for some strange reason it was like hitting diamond and her fist swelled and reddened.

Naruto touched a hand to his head where she struck and rubbed it, a confused look spreading over his face. "Huh? You say something?" he asked. Inside he was cackling like a madman. 'Remind me to thank Lime for that one!' he shouted at the Kyuubi who was sitting in a cage, tails flashing back and forth as Naruto laughed.

Hanabi stormed off and turned back for a moment as the other team members for the assignment were arriving. "Don't think this is over, Naruto-baka!" she huffed and turned back to storming down the street. No one had the good graces to mention that she remained in henge form. Hanabi blushed slightly as she felt the breasts bouncing with gusto at ever step she took. _"Why should I blush for that idiot pervert?"_ she wondered and let it drop as she released the henge on her body.

Hinata looked down at her two feet, pushing her fingers together, lost in thought. 'Naruto-kun thinks I have confidence problems? Maybe I do... But, how do I get over them to make him like me for me and not just my breasts?' she wondered.

Her thoughts were pushed to the side as Kakashi and Gai arrived, Kakashi taking the lead on this mission. "Okay, new information has arrived. We're going to be facing an unknown number of enemies as we attempt to retrieve Gaara, the Kazekage, and the original rescue party. A little over 100 ninja were send to retrieve Gaara but none have returned. It's our duty to find Gaara, return him and find out what happened to the other ninja. If any are still alive we need to bring them back with us, if possible. Otherwise an execution order is in effect. Leave no open ends. Understand?" he asked.

Team's Asuma and Kurenai looked a bit squeamish as did Sakura at the prospect of killing allies. Especially in cold blood just because they can't keep up. Kakashi sighed. "The lives of ninja are not easy. Sometimes we have to do things that go against our better judgment. But in the end we follow all of our orders to the letter."

Naruto looked ready to protest, but as he saw all eyes land on him to shout out something he relented and nodded. "Understood, Kakashi-sensei," he stated matter-of-factually. 'This is so not what I signed up for! I miss being a martial artist! Training to get stronger, finding new rivals and friends and pushing yourself beyond your limits. That's what I want in life. Maybe I made a huge mistake," he thought morosely. Hearing the fox within growl at him didn't help.

Everyone turned a surprised eye on Naruto and slowly all agreed, even Temari to everyone's surprise. "Alright, let's move out! It should take around three days to get there," Kakashi stated as he took to the trees running full speed. The rest of the ninja did the same, racing towards Sunagakure.

**Elsewhere: Ruins of a Village**

A young kunoichi, considered a hero in her village, was wandering about. The streets of the village she was in were completely bare. She stood a tall height of 5'7" with slender, lithe muscles. Her blonde hair was long and straight, tightly bound in a high ponytail. As she strode through the streets she kept feeling an eery sensation of being watched.

Her instincts were going haywire as she heard none of the sounds of a striving, healthy village. "What the hell, Nibi?" she asked quietly of her sealed partner. The two-tailed cat bijuu was on alert as much as her Jinchuuriki. "It's like everyone just got up and left," she noted as she walked into yet another empty street.

Without warning a wall was destroyed to her right as a scythe bearing three blades, reducing in size as they descended, rocketed her way narrowly missing the ninja. "Fuck me... I can't believe I actually missed her, Kakuzu!" shouted a man with an exasperated look on his young face as a hand ran through his sliver hair. He was wearing a black robe with red clouds outlined in white patterns, a ring on one of his fingers and a set of combat boots. He pulled the scythe back to himself, catching it with ease. "Oh well, guess you can't catch the cat all the time."

To his side a man with threads crisscrossing his neck and what was visible of his chest, also wearing the same robe, scoffed. "Shut the hell up and take her down before I kill you, Hidan."

The now named Hidan glowered at his partner before turning back to his target. "Hey girly. Why don't we do this the easy way and you surrender?" Hidan offered.

The kunoichi, known across the country as Yugito Nii, fell into a ready stance, her fingernails elongating into hardened claws. "Now why would I want to do that?" she asked.

"**Kitten be careful, something about that sliver-haired guy's chakra is way off,"** the cat inside related. Yugito could only nod, but the cat understood.

Just as Hidan was about to charge forward a giant bolt of lightning came down, striking Kakuzu's body and leaving him on the ground, burning. Hidan's head spun left and right as he looked for Kakuzu's attacker. "What the fuck?! Kakuzu, you better not fucking be dead," he shouted at the downed ninja.

Kakuzu refused to make a sound or move a muscle. Hidan growled low and took his eyes off of Yugito one time too many. The cat jailor struck hard and fast, pulling a demon windmill shuriken and cleaved the man in half.

Hidan's top-half fell to the ground as he stared at the kunoichi is shock. "W-What the fuck?!" he screamed as his torso fell hard, his scythe clattering to the ground as well.

As Yugito started to right herself, thinking Hidan was dead she turned to look for her timely savior. A teenager, a few years younger than Yugito (who was currently 24) stepped from behind a building with a cocky smirk. "Who.. Who are you?" She asked.

The boy's Sharingan eyes flared, glowing red with dark black tomoe slowly swirling. The Nibi within Yugito made to protest. **"Kitten, run! Run away now!"**

That's when the world went insane. Yugito found herself standing in her own mind, locking eyes with the Nibi. "Wha? How did I get in here?" she asked. The cat looked into the darkness and hissed.

Yugito spun around, peering into darkness, seeing nothing... Softly, faintly the sounds of footsteps could be heard...

**Pit.**

**Pit.**

**Pit.**

**Pit.**

The same boy as before made himself known. His Sharingan boring a hole into the two watchers. "Interesting. You don't have a seal holding back the Nibi?" he asked.

Yugito took a moment to take stock of the ninja's appearance. She wanted to make certain to memorize it in case she ever met him again. Of course that was if she survived this encounter. The teen was slightly taller than her, standing 5'8", was wearing a kimono top let loose at the front to expose most of his chest. His hair was tied into a samurai's topknot and was pitch black. If there was any questioning his lineage before, it was confirmed and certain now that he was an Uchiha. His black pants were baggy and ended at mid-calf. His feet wore thong sandals made of rope and on his back was a short sword referred to as a chokuto, placed for quick retrieval.

"**Uchiha..."** Nibi growled as the boy continued to stride forwards.

Sasuke was unperturbed by the giant cat and walked right up to it, hypnotizing the beast. His right hand reached up to it and he squeezed, making the chakra construct dissolve. "I don't want to talk to you, cat," Sasuke declared to the empty space it once was.

Yugito's eyes widened as she felt the extra chakra and senses granted by the cat's sudden departure. Yugito, being Jinchuuriki all of her life had never realized that life inside her head was so stuffy and cramped. There were downsides to the situation as well, such as her normally immense chakra supply was now down to nothing but human levels. Granted S-Class, but no longer endless. "What did you do to her?!" she demanded.

Sasuke merely smirked. "I moved her. You won't find her again. Trust me," he informed with a malicious grin on his face. The look only increased as he watched the blonde fall to her knees, water beginning to trail her cheeks.

"W-What do you want?" she pleaded, tears in her eyes as she looked up at him. For the first time in her life, Yugito was alone. Well and truly alone! There was no comfort in those emotionless Uchiha eyes. No she wouldn't find solace there, even as she jerked her face away from his piercing gaze.

Sasuke's visage grew hard as he peered down on her, seeing the broken, distraught woman as so much garbage. "I want you. I though that should be obvious."

"M-Me? But what for? I'm a female Jinchuuriki, we can't have children! We lose control of our seals in childbirth. Everyone knows that!" she cried, hoping her fears were wrong.

Sasuke scoffed and looked at her with disgust. "No, you pathetic worm. I wouldn't procreate with the likes of you if I was forced," he said harshly, the words almost making Yugito wince. "No, I want your service. I demand your loyalty and subservience for the rest of your life."

Yugito's eyes widened. "Never! I'm a loyal ninja of Kumogakure!" she declared, her resolve growing again.

Sasuke smirked at her. "If you returned to your village without the Nibi do you really think they would want you? You were only useful to them because you were strong and could control your bijuu's powers. Now you're nothing but an average ninja that can't even keep tabs on a demon that's glued to your body!" he accused, pointing a finger at her.

The downed blonde began to consider what he was saying and looked up, fire still burning in her eyes. "No! I'd rather be a failure in my home village than a traitor!" she declared, standing to her feet.

Sasuke scoffed and turned away from her. "Well, I guess I'll just have to seal you too, then," he said as his hands flashed through a series of handsigns. "Good-bye, Yugito Nii," he said with a disturbing grin.

The next instant Sasuke was gone and she found herself locked in a cage in the absolute dark with no food, no water and company...

* * *

On the outside only an instant had transpired and Sasuke was wandering over to Hidan. "Hey, idiot. I see you're still alive," he stated.

Hidan glared at the boy. "Shut your fucking mouth, brat! As soon as I get to my legs, I'll kill your ass!" he declared.

Sasuke shrugged and placed the legs onto Hidan's upper body, watching as the man tried to hold himself together. "Well, I seem to still be alive," Sasuke taunted.

Hidan glowered but remained silent for a few moments until he noticed Yugito was standing still, drooling with expressionless eyes, as if she was brain dead. "Hey, what the fuck did you do that girl?" he asked.

Sasuke closed his eyes like he was wasting his time. "It's none of your concern. What you should know is that I am going to be your master now," he declared, as he channeled chakra between the two halves of Hidan, healing the Jashinist.

"Now why the fuck would I obey some pipsqueak?" he asked snidely.

Sasuke looked the man in his eyes. Because, I'll do the same thing to you as I did to her," he explained as his tomoe began to spin. Hidan raised his hands in a placating gesture as he shuddered. "Hey hey! I may be immortal, but I don't want to fuckin be a vegetable!" he declared before Sasuke could lock him within himself.

Sasuke nodded to the ninja. "Then allow me to place my seal on you." Without waiting for permission, Sasuke flashed his hands through 500 handsigns and slapped his palm onto the immortal ninja's chest. "The moment you decide to betray me you will find yourself locked in your own mind."

Hidan's eyes widened as he was instantly locked within a cage in the dark with no food, no water, and nothing but darkness and a set of bars before him. "What the fuck?! Where the hell am I?" he called out.

**End of Chapter**


	5. Chapter 5

**Within Yugito**

Yugito wandered aimlessly, drifting in large circles as she walked the edge of her cage. It had been sixty long years; tho she had yet to age a single day. There were only two thoughts that kept her sane. One was the fact she knew it had to be a genjutsu, although she couldn't break it or figure out how to escape. The second thought was the next time she saw a person she was gonna hug them for all she was worth! There was only so much one could do with a clone before going insane.

Her eyes were glazed over as she stared at he darkness. "Kuso! I can't take another minute of this!" she cried.

**Pit.**

**Pit.**

**Pit.**

**Pit.**

Yugito's eyes widened, hoping it was someone heading her way. "Hey! Hey you! Come this way! Help me! Please!" she called out, pleading that the person would hear her.

******Chapter 5**

**With The Konoha Strike Force**

Naruto was feeling something extremely wrong in the air. It was like something was nearby, watching him, yet he couldn't sense it, or feel it. He paused mid-stride as his team was running through the desert.

The ninja behind him stopped immediately while those in front had to look back to see the rest not following and all met up near the blonde boy. Naruto's long, sexy blonde locks blew in the wind like a woman's wet fantasy. His soft facial features tightened as he looked around himself.

"Naruto, what's wrong? Why did you stop?" Kakashi asked as he walked up to the boy.

Naruto just stayed there, the wind blowing his hair as he stood, a part of the world, yet taking no part in it. "Hey, what's wrong with Fabio?" Temari asked, hooking a thumb in Naruto's direction.

For Naruto, he was actually inside of himself facing the caged Kyuubi. "Hey foxy-chan? What am I feeling?" he asked.

The Kitsune growled at the boy, hating that particular nickname. **"Remind me when I get free to go kill that Ranma boy for telling you to call me that," **Kyuubi growled. **"This feeling..." **Kyuubi began, pausing as it tasted the air. **"You feel the afterglow of death. Many people died near here, though I'm not sure how you can sense such a thing. Most humans can't feel it,"** the fox offered.

Naruto nodded. "Oh, and you know Ranma-nii only started calling you that cause you refuse to tell us your name, Foxy-chan," Naruto noted as he left the seal, leaving an irate and angry fox in a cell that was cursing the boy with all its might.

**Outside**

Naruto's eyes snapped wide open just as Temari called him Fabio. Not missing a beat, Temari found herself cradled in Fabio's arms, his bare-chest exposed, tanned by the sun as the dark blonde hair danced in the wind. "You called?" he asked the young Kunoichi.

Temari's blush made her look like a tomato. "F-Fabio?" she asked incredulously. The entire group stared at the man, then at Naruto who was still standing where he was, tho he _was_ snickering. Temari popped the shadow clone and landed on her feet softly. "When the hell did you create a shadow clone?" she demanded.

Naruto shrugged. "Who says I made it?" he asked, pointing at Shikamaru who looked away in annoyance. "Anyway..." Naruto drawled before Temari or Shikamari could say anything. "I can sense death in the air. It seems a lot of people died near here," he offered.

Kiba narrowed his eyes and lifted his nose to sniff the air. Akamaru followed suit and both nodded to confirm. "Yeah, there's a lot of blood, maybe three or four days old around twenty miles north of here."

Kakashi nodded. "Okay... Temari, Sakura, Hinata, Tenten and Kurenai: head to Sunagakure, inform Kankuro we are heading towards the source of the blood. You ladies follow Kankuro to where ever he says the fight happened. Stay in observation mode until we all meet back up. Dismissed!" he stated, letting the ladies leave quickly.

Kakashi rounded on Naruto, suspicion in his voice as he spoke. "Naruto, how did you smell the blood? Kiba didn't even smell it until you mentioned it."

Naruto shrugged. "I'm not sure... I just felt it. I can't smell it, not like Kiba. But it's like the wind is talking to me."

Kakashi nodded, thoughts circling his head. 'I've heard of ninja in past having bloodied their hands so many times that they can sense when Death is near. Can it be that Naruto's been killing people on his trip? Or maybe something's wrong with the seal?' he assessed, writing a note and sending a messenger hawk to Konoha.

Shino watched the bird and looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi-taicho. If you have messenger hawks wouldn't it have been more prudent to send the hawk to Sunagakure rather than a quarter of our forces?"

Kakashi turned an eye smile. "We still have Ino here, right?" he said to the bug user, knowing what the boy was getting at. "Temari is going to be off of her game, worried about her little brother. We need the other three girls to keep her in check and Kurenai is the only Jounin I could spare," he explained as he turned towards Kiba. "Lead the way."

Kiba and Akamaru both nod, the large dog giving off a loud, deep bark. Ino stared for a moment at Kakashi, wondering if she was kept with the guys cause she wasn't strong enough or because she was a better fighter than the other girls.

Kiba, Akamaru and Naruto headed the pack as the ninja moved swiftly through the sand dunes of the desert, ignoring the biting wind tearing at their faces.

**With Gaara**

Yura's eyes slowly opened as he pushed the facehugger from his head, the creature finally expending its strength. He gagged and coughed to get the gelatinous lubricant from his throat. "What the fuck was that?" he asked himself. He heard groaning and turned to see the other twenty ninja starting to stir. "Am I in hell? Are we all dead now?" Yura asked as he got to his feet.

He couldn't see Gaara, but he could make out the faces of his fellow ninja. "Hey does anyone see Gaara?" he asked.

Several ninja groaned in complaint as they tried to right themselves. "Yura-sir... I don't feel so good," complained one of the ninja as he cradled his stomach. Yura headed over, assisted by the only surviving medic ninja. "Check him out and patch everyone else up, Senzo," he ordered.

As Yura turned away Senzo's hands began to glow green as he scanned the ninja's body. A gasp from Senzo was all the warning Yura or the others got as they watched a bulge appear in the ninja sand vest. "Y-Yura-sama!" the ninja cried out as his chest and armor erupted outward, spraying blood and bone everywhere.

A small creature looking just like the ones they had just fought crawled out of the ninja, plopping wetly into the sand before gaining its feet and letting out a small, childish bark into the air. Yura made to grab a kunai, only to feel his own belly start to quake.

"S-Senzo?" he asked of the mednin. Senzo was already on the ground, kicking his legs as his belly pressed outwards, further and further. One could make out the shape of an ovular head and a clawed hand seeming to look for purchase as it moved higher up the mednin's torso.

With a sickening _**crunch**_ the ninja joined his allies in death, the pitch black head of the insect-like creature making itself known. It too called out in a feeble series of barks.

Yura flashed his hands through handsigns and intended to blow himself up, but as he reached the last set of seals he watched as his hands separated themselves and his arms rested to his sides. With wide open eyes, he watched as his head turned to the right where could see Gaara's robes fluttering.

The Kazekage seemed to have been buried in the sand. Yura tried to call out to Gaara, but his neck suddenly turned the opposite direction with extreme speed and force going beyond the normal degree of rotation until it snapped. Yura collapsed on the ground, dead as his chest burst open.

Rather than one of the normal, run of the mill insects, a creature, black as night and twice the size of the others crawled out of Yura's dead chest cavity. This one managed to crawl a couple of feet to before its back opened up and spread out, revealing a set of large wings. With a few mighty thrusts, the winged demon took to the air looking to find a place to start a nest of its own.

**A Few Moments Later**

Gaara groaned. He didn't have the strength to move. His body felt like it was on fire. His mind was awash with thoughts, memories, emotions, and logic. He felt his skin harden, his muscles tighten, his bones began to melt and all of his inside turn to jelly.

If he could, Gaara would have screamed.

However, despite his body wanting to scream and protest its treatment, his chakra flared, kicking up the sand around him in a whirling mass. Gaara managed to raise himself slightly on his elbows. He watched as his arms turned black as night just like the creatures he had been fighting.

_'Mother's colony,'_ he thought. As strange as it may sound, the thought seemed to be correct. However this time mother was not himself. Mother was not the Ichibi. His three minds were tossed into a blender and scrambled on liquify.

The thoughts that poured out were heard in three different ways. The first saw only reasons to kill, while the second saw only logic and subservience to the strongest; at least until he could make his own colony. The third was the decision-maker; whichever of the two seemed to be the most agreeable was the path followed.

Gaara watched as his blacker-than-night chitinous flesh receded, covered by his human skin. While he couldn't see it, he could tell his chitin was shrinking and forming into an indoskeletal system. He watched in amazement as his flesh was covered by sand that slowly changed to look like the skin from before.

As Gaara took a deep breath of air, he realized that while he was breathing he no longer needed to. He could feel something strange about himself as he felt his body fall away and he turned to complete chakra. He stared down on the body he just left, feeling stronger than ever and unrefined. All three minds stopping thinking individually and seemed to snap like a rubber band into just one sentient mind with the combined memories, emotions, thoughts and feelings of a single entity.

With a thump the chakra-construct fell into the body laying in the sand, taking the physical form of Gaara.

The boy's eyes closed once again and while not sleeping, as there was no need to do, the body went into a state of zero-animation.

It was at this moment that Naruto, Akamaru and Kiba arrived, followed an instant later by the rest of the ninja. "What the hell happened here?" Kiba asked as he looked at the holes in everyone's chest.

Naruto turned around and fell to his knees, vomiting at the scene. Kakashi looked down on the blonde boy and shook his head at the ninjas reaction. Ino scanned through the bodies with Team Gai and Shino. Choji looked like he was at an impasse. In all actuality, Choji just wanted to hurl like Naruto; but that would have been a waste of his precious food.

Kakashi, Gai and Asuma took some notes on what they discovered and kept casting glances at one another as things weren't adding up. "Any survivors?" Kakashi asked.

A shout of "Over here!" rang out. All heads turned towards Rock Lee and the Jounin, Shikamaru and Neji included, headed that way. "Isn't that Gaara?" Shikamaru asked aloud as he approached.

Naruto was instantly back up to his feet and pushing his way through the crowd. "G-Gaara? He can't be dead!" he shouted as he finally fell to his knees next to the redhead. Ino had her hands glowing over his chest, using the minor knowledge of field treatment that she knew. "I can't find a pulse," she said morbidly.

Naruto's eyes started to well up until he felt a hand wipe the tears. "Why are you crying, Naruto?" came the voice of Gaara, tho it sounded different, raspy.

Naruto and the rest of the group gasped. Kakashi, Gai and Neji glared at Ino who looked at Gaara like he was the walking dead. "G-Gaara? You're alive? You're alive!" Naruto enthused as he hugged his friend close. Gaara stared at Naruto with as much emotion as he ever had. That being almost none.

Ino looked at her hands, wondering if she had done something wrong in her evaluation. Kakashi looked around the area. "Okay, Primary target acquired. Secondary targets all deceased. Let's get out of here. We need to deliver Gaara to Sunagakure. What ever it was that did this, we don't want to stick around to do it to us. Agreed?"

All present wholeheartedly agreed, Gaara who was strangely quiet, also agreed and the troop quickly rushed away.

Had anyone bother to check, they might have seen Naruto make twenty clones while "barfing". As the group had left, the puddle of barf poof'ed into the twenty ninja. "Let's have a look around for boss," one of the clones stated. All nodded in agreement and began to search the area.

**Elsewhere**

The sounds of skittering could be heard here in the dark. Ever so often a flash of red would reveal the sight of a hallway. This hallway seemed to be more of a corridor, complete with bulkheads every thirty or so feet. A grinding could be heard as if fingernails were tearing into metal.

For a moment a few dull thuds can be heard, sounding like something pounding on a door. The sound fades as it gets weaker... A small but steady strand of slime oozes its way from the ceiling down to the floor where it sizzles for a moment before the next glob copies the same motion.

As we go deeper into the darkness the strobe of red light no longer reaching this area, a young blonde woman seems to be lying in a web made of membrane, stark naked as the day she was born. Her figure is lithe and shapely easily able to pass for a swimsuit model. Haloed by her long blonde hair, she moans softly, trying to stir, but a large clawed hand, blacker than even the demons' from before, comes into contact with her face, gently stroking her.

The hand slowly retracts as the young woman calms, and stills...

**End of Chapter**

**SSTR87**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Yugito peered into the darkness. That sound of the feet was once again there.

**Pit.**

**Pit.**

**Pit.**

**Pit.**

She raises her head from where she's been lying, waiting for twenty five years since the last time she had heard footsteps. "P-Please...?" she pleads, her voice raspy tho she was not thirsty. She was dying of the loneliness and knew as much. But, even as time went on she knew she would not die. She knew she could not die.

The one who placed her in here... She couldn't remember who he was or what he looked like. She remembered that she had a friend, but for the life of her, that friend she could not remember. She had a name and a home somewhere that everyone loved her and cared about her, but again she could not remember.

The steps grew closer...

**Pit.**

**Pat.**

**Pit.**

**Pat.**

**Pit.**

**Pat.**

Silence once again ruled her dungeon. "I'll... I'll do anything... Just, please... Let me out!" she begged, her thin, slender arms sticking out of the cage, looking for anything to grasp. There was no light. There was no dark. There was no sound. There was no silence.

She simply was...

She was stuck in a limbo. She wasn't sure where the word came from, but she knew it to be true. She was at some point, teetering between life and death, where time held no meaning...

Then she was herself again, connected to the Nibi as she stared at the Uchiha from before. He was just standing there.

Staring at her...

At her...

"I take it you're ready to follow me now?" he asked.

Yugito shivered as she looked around. The sun had moved enough to indicate barely two minutes had passed... 'Provided I haven't been standing here for an entire year, of course,' Nii thought morosely. Seeing Sasuke taking a step towards her, Yugito flinched back and knelt. "I'll do anything you want... Just don't do that to me again. Please... I beg of you!" she pleaded, earning a cocky smirk from Sasuke who flashed his hands through handsigns and placed a seal on the Jinchuuriki's chest, much like Hidan earlier.

Yugito flinched but embraced the human contact, almost purring at the feel of warmth of another human being. **"Kitten? Are you alright?"** Nibi asked in concern. After the Uchiha had come and separated the two Nibi had grown concerned for what the Uchiha was capable of. Obviously he had damaged her kitten.

Yugito leaned a little harder against Sasuke as he went to withdraw his hand. She even went so far as to hold his arm to her chest, squeezing it between her c-cup breasts. She didn't mean anything in a sexual way, but Sasuke raised an eyebrow before snatching his arm and hand away. "B-but-" she started to protest but quickly fought down the pleading in her voice and hid the desire of contact.

"Truly there is no greater loss than to have everything taken from you. Your lifelong friend, your world. No sight, no sound. No taste, no sense of touch. No affection from anyone and no one to talk with. Just remember I will send you there for the rest of eternity if you ever betray me," Sasuke intoned as Hidan also revived.

"FUCK! You're sicker than any asshole I've ever seen or heard of!" he declared as he sat up, looking at Sasuke with eyes trembling in fear.

Sasuke tilted his head sideways, glancing at the Jashinist over his shoulder. "And?"

"And, I'll follow you for eternity! 'Sides, Jashin-sama would love for me to follow you!" he declared. Hidan hefted his triple-bladed scythe and stood to Sasuke's side, ready and willing to follow the Uchiha to the edge of the world and back. Yugito Nii fell to Sasuke's other side, equally devoted, tho for her own reasons which didn't involve servitude to an evil god.

Sasuke let his eyes return to normal and began to leap away, his companions following him tightly.

As the crew left the clearing a Zetsu looked on and raised itself halfway above the ground. **"Most impressive,"** the black half said. "Hm, yeah the boy shows promise. He's far more advanced than the other one." the white half spoke. The two halves pulled the ring from Kakuzu's dead finger and slipped into the earth once more.

**With Naruto's Clones**

"Hey, look what I found!" called out one of the clones as he held up an egg. The egg had yet to hatch, but it seemed to have a predefined region for where the egg would open at. "What do you suppose it is?" he asked the others.

"How the heck are we supposed ta know? We've all got the same memories, dingbat," replied another. The others nodded in conjecture. "Put it in a seal and we'll send it to Boss," said another.

The first Naruto nodded his head and picked up Boss's book which happened to have fallen on the ground while he was _barfing_. The Naruto flipped through a few pages, ignoring those that were already in use until he finally came across a blank page. "Ah ha! Evil Egg," he said as he wrote the name atop and sealed the egg within.

One of the clones suddenly got a mischievous look in his eye. "I got a great idea! Let's seal this whole thing up! The sand and all!" he declared as he flipped the book to another blank page. Another Naruto looked at him like he'd lost it. "Do you know how MUCH chakra that will take?" he asked the first Naruto. "We'll completely run out of energy!"

The first Naruto shrugged and pointed at the structure. "Are you honestly telling me that Boss wouldn't want to explore that place?" he asked inquisitively as the others stared in the direction of the ship. "If we leave it here, they will declare it property of Suna and we'll _never_ get in!"

The others looked back and forth, none able to argue with the flawed logic. "Okay... Might as well," one of the clones stated as he got into position. The rest of the clones did the same, each lining up and ready to channel chakra...

**In Sunagakure**

Naruto suddenly held his head getting a rush of information. "What the heck? How do I know all that stuff?" he asked no one as he was walking the hall alone. Shaking his head quickly, Naruto made his way to the infirmary, following the signs on the walls as he went.

"Geez, stop to the use the bathroom for five minutes... FIVE MINUTES and everyone leaves you behind," he grumbled as he finally got near the actual facility.

The moment he stepped inside he was treated to quite a sight. Naruto's eyes nearly fell out of his head as he saw Sakura and Kurenai propped up on a med table, arms intertwined with the other, neither wearing anything. A small perverted giggle escaped Naruto as a trickle of blood made its way down. Sakura let out a small, cute cry as she fell back, seeming to orgasm.

Naruto flew back with a nosebleed.

As the bishonen blonde hit the floor unconscious, Kakashi stepped out from his hiding place and released the Genjutsu. He looked around to make sure no one else saw what he did as he lifted Naruto's black, silk button-up shirt. He took a few minutes to look at the seal and study the energy within it.

Apparently the seal was not only still intact, but it was functioning better than before the training trip.

**In a Small Village In North Wind Country**

A young woman wearing a simple dress brown in color with a green trim was hurrying to get home as she carried four large brown sacks of groceries. She had left for the shopping around an hour ago, intent on making it home before it got dark. However when she got into the store she was met with a major store-wide sale; everything being 50% off. Poor Koyuki was not ready to turn down such a sale and doubled her grocery list.

The extra items and extra patrons had taken more time than usual, resulting in her current situation. Her young daughter, Mistuki, was home alone and only 9. "Mitsuki," Koyuki called out as she set foot on the pathway to her house from the street. The woman's long brown hair danced freely as a cool breeze blew. "Baby, can you get the door? Mommy's hands are full,"she called out as she approached the house.

The sounds of a young girl screaming met her ears rather than the normally playful reply of "yes"

"AAAAHHHHHHH! MOMMY! HELP ME!" came the shrill cry of Mitsuki, rang out out from the second-floor window of the small house.

Mitsuki, not-knowing what could frighten her daughter so much, Koyuki threw down the bags, crushing her eggs as she hurriedly unlocked the deadbolt. In less than an instant the woman was in the house and rushing up the stairs to her daughter's room.

The moment she stepped in she was met with complete darkness. Her daughter's heavy-labored breathing coming from her bed. "Mitsuki-chan? It's okay, mommy's here," she called out. Without a concern of the darkness, the woman rushed to her daughter's side and ignited a small lantern. "Were you having a bad dream, baby"

Mitsuki's eyes were wide and unseeing as she trembled in the bed. A fine sheen of sweat could be seen on the girl's visible upper body. "M-Mommy?" the girl asked as she began to realize where she was. "I was sleeping and... and the m-... monster woke me up" she said, trying to relay her fears.

Koyuki's expression softened. "It's alright, dear. Mommy's here now. I won't let any monsters get you. Okay?" the woman tried, placating the young girl.

Mitsuki saw a flash of a shadow as her mother's back was to the room. Trembling a new she pointed a weak finger. "Mommy.. I think it just went into the closet!" she tried with urgency.

For a moment, Koyuki's brow scrunched up. Usually after telling the girl that she was safe from monsters, the child would relax and sleep. 'After all no point in lying to her and saying they don't exist,' Koyuki thought ruefully.

Getting up from the bed, Koyuki grabbed a kunai that was set on the end-side table for Mitsuki's protection. While a retired Chuunin, Koyuki had let her skills falter. She was never one for the killing so she got out of that life as soon as possible. "Stay in the bed, baby. Mommy's gonna check the closet, okay?" she called out as she looked her daughter in the eye.

"If there's someone in my daughter's closet, you'd better come out, or I will try my best to kill you," she threatened as she held the kunai tightly, her old training coming back in the heat of the moment. 'If only my husband were here,' she thought with trepidation. While killing was against her nature, her husband had become a missing-nin because his Kage claimed he liked killing too much. It didn't help that he had also just started a family.

Not a sound was heard from the closet as Koyuki stepped forward. With a quick motion, Koyuki flashed her hands through a series of handseals, creating a mud clone. She used her sign language to instruct her clone to open the door. The mud clone nodded as it opened the door swiftly, reaching into the closet...

"AHH!" Mitsuki screamed.

Koyuki's head spun as she looked to see her daughter's surprised expression as the closet was empty. "Whew. That was a close one!" Koyuki said as she breathed a sigh of relief.

As the mud clone dispelled, Koyuki headed towards the bed where Mitsuki was sitting, now smiling happily.

Unknown to either a blacker than black - so dark it reflected the room's content - shadow clung to the roof, its large, elongated, black head with a fan-like headdress was watching them.

**KRIKKIKIKIKIK...**

The creature seemed to be growling, gaining the occupants' attention as a single strand of saliva came down. Koyuki quickly grabbed her kunai as Mitsuki watched the saliva fall. The moment the fluid hit the ground, the wooden floor sizzled, releasing a noxious gas. "Mommy... The monster... It's back," Mitsuki offered, clutching her blanket tightly.

Koyuki swallowed nervously as she steeled her resolve. "I won't let it hurt you, even it kills me, Mitsuki-chan," Koyuki stated.

As Koyuki rose and prepared for battle the creature on the ceiling unfurled two massive insect wings, looking to be made of a membrane fabric and a tail that seemed to be similar to the spinal cord's vertebrae flashed, dancing back and forth.

The creature growled again, glaring at the mother and daughter with its featureless face.

Suddenly glass broke and the lantern went out!

**BUMP! BUMP! TUMBLE! THWUNK! TSSRRRRREEEEEE! KRIKIKIKIKIK...**

Mitsuki couldn't see anything once the lantern went out, her eyes temporarily blind from the sudden darkness. After the scuffling, she could hear only silence. She didn't know if her mother had won or the monster. Honestly, she was too terrified to find out.

Steeling her young heart's resolve, the girl remembered a jutsu her father taught her to create a temporary light source. She flashed her hands and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling. "Katon: Fire Starter," she whispered as she breathed a small, but steady stream of fire.

The light was immediate, although to Mitsuki's ire she was graced with a _very_ unwelcome sight...

She was met with the evil face of a black carapace. A long ovular head devoid of eyes, nose or ears, merely having a mouth of sharp, jagged teeth and acidic saliva that was mere inches from her face. As its lip lifted in a snarl, Mitsuki began to scream...

**Sunagakure**

A young shinobi by the name of Kazuki was proud to be a Genin in his humble but proud village. So here he was after a hard day of performing various D-Rank missions; missions such as sweeping the front lawns of nobles', washing camels, organizing shelves in various shops around town and other missions similar.

Kazuki was currently fourteen years old, stood around 5' even with dark brown hair, black eyes and the brightest smile anyone in the village had seen in over 50 years. Kazuki, whose family bore an abnormally pale complexion, was bright red, having been burned raw by the glaring sun. His family had moved to this village after he was tested and confirmed to contain high levels of chakra. Surprisingly enough, though, his family never had any ninja in its history – plenty of brawlers and swordsmen, but no ninja. Thus it was even more surprising that earlier today, it was determined that Kazuki actually possessed a Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit – Usually an affinity to two elements resulting in a mixture of the two, creating a unique set of Ninjutsu skills).

Kazuki was so ecstatic as he waved goodbye to his two teammates, one with a full face mask on and a standard-issue Chuunin outfit, even tho he was still only a Genin and the only female to graduate in Kazuki's class, Mei. The girl wore an all red, form-fitting leotard. Everything from her toes up to her cleavage was covered, but it split at her bustline to suspender-type straps going over the young kunoichi's shoulders. Currently the girl had a well-worn brown cloak wrapped about her neck, pulled back to display her front, prominently.

Kazuki's mother, who happened to be looking out from the patio, frowned at the girl's display but said nothing as her own teammates were known to dress in far more revealing clothing. 'But, honestly? Bright red? Might as well be wear an orange jumpsuit and screaming, "Shoot me," to everyone,' the woman groused in the comforts of her own mind.

The female warrior, hired on as a mercenary with her violent family history, was certainly a seasoned fighter as she was missing her right eye, and wore a black eye patch to cover it. She had a long, jagged scar across the right side of her otherwise attractive ovular face. She, unlike her son, had extremely pale skin, dotted by brown freckles and light red hair, nearly opaque.

At present the woman was wearing a simple terry cloth robe that at one point in time was white, but now was stained various shades in accordance to what life had spilled on her. Many times she'd been asked to throw it away by her husband and son, but she had held on to it, much like her name. Even after her husband died four years ago. Her son had since never asked her to get rid of it.

As Kazuki bounded into the room leading to where she was, he called out for her. "Hey mom! Guess what?" he called out, a bundle of energy and joy. The female warrior raised her left brow as she waited for her son to settle down. "Do tell, Kazuki," she asked. Kazuki pumped his fist in the air as he shouted. "I have a Kekkei Genkai!" he crowed, shaking the windows as he did.

His mother looked at the boy askance. "But, how? Before we sailed to this island, some fifty years ago, our clan had never even heard of ninja... Or jutsu for that matter."

Kazuki nodded and sat down, crossing his legs as he spoke. "Yeah, I asked my sensei the same thing after he tested me. He says all Kekkei Genkai are mutations. They occur randomly, but once one person has it they pass it to their children. That means we can officially start the Bethune Clan here in Sunagakure!" he cheered.

His mother, Agatha looked up at the crest of her clan, an otter's head with a sturdy rope beneath it, a thick belt surrounding the head and rope with the end of the belt wrapping over itself, tipped with a three-pointed crown. Written along the top of the belt were the words "De Bonnaire", an ancient phrase from an even more ancient tongue meaning "Gracious".

"You mean the village will allow us to set roots?" she asked, incredulously. She had tried before, but was told she'd have to marry into another clan, thus ending her clan's lineage.

Kazuki nodded his head, proudly. "Yup! I'm gonna go out for a celebration dinner with my teammates tonight!" he crowed.

That last statement snapped Agatha from her internal musings. "Oh no yer not, sonnie!" she shouted, falling into her old accent before correcting herself. "You've got a room to clean! You ain't going anywhere 'til it's done."

Kazuki groaned as he turned an annoyed expression on his mother. "Seriously? This is the BIGGEST event in my life and I have to miss it so I can clean my room?" he asks, hoping his mother will see reason.

Sadly for him, his mother knew better and crossed her arms, sending a harsh glare at him. "Nice try, Kazuki. I've asked you all week to clean you room and you've been avoiding it. Now you're gonna miss out on your own party 'cause a yer own stubberness," she chastised, her accent slipping in yet again towards the end.

The boy grumbled to himself as he headed up the stairs. "I can't believe this!" he growled. Suddenly, as he entered his room a grin formed on his face. "Mizubunshin no jutsu (Water clone technique)," he softly called out as he formed three water clones. "Try not to burst, we gotta get this room clean, okay?" he said to the three clones of himself. The clones nodded their heads and set about the cleaning.

As the room was quickly shaping up, Mizuki considered his new-found bloodline limit and smiled softly. "I wonder what a Mokuton user is like? I've never heard of one before, and according to my teacher there's only ever been one other in history," he said to himself as he sat on his bed, pulling open a scroll and reading about water and earth style jutsu.

**In the Council Room**

"With the untimely demise of Baki and Yura, this council is short two vital members," came an aged voice from one of the council members. The man was nearing seventy and his body had never felt weaker. He was dressed like the other council members, the Kazekage included, in long brown robes with a white scarf wrapped about his neck. He wore a Sunagakure hitae-ite around his forehead, being a proud former ninja and one of only five ninja left in the room of twenty.

"Gaara raised a hand to forestall the elder from continuing. "Forgive my interruption, but with our council consisting of mostly civilians and the few ninja that once held council with us being dead. I must ask; what do you propose we do with the two most recent vacant seats?"

The elder groused a moment as he thought the situation over. The room went into loud murmurs as the various councilors consider the situation. Finally one civilian spoke up. "I vote the seats be absolved, their voting powers be evenly divided among the remaining councilors." he called out.

Quickly another civilian chirruped. "I second the motion."

The elder grit his teeth. "Very well, on the matter of the motion to absolve the seats and divide the voting rights evenly. All in favor say Aye.'"

To the elder's consternation and surprise, he was met with a resounding chorus of "Aye". He looked about noticing all of the civilians voted in favor and even two of the ninja. "Very well, the motion to absolve the seats and divide the voting positions has met with unanimous favor. The motion pa-" before he could finish his words, Gaara rose to his feet.

Something was niggling at the back of his head. He (Gaara) could feel this overwhelming sensation of conversations. Not the conversations of diplomats or politicians, but something else. He could hear voices in the darkness speaking. _'The Hive,'_ he realized as a part of his minds' memories supplied the information. The hive was what the creatures called their home.

The creatures, as demonic as they seemed to be, lived in tight knit communities, in which all served their queen. At present, Gaara was hearing the crosstalk of several, '_Drones..._' his mind supplied, as they were moving about the desert land of his village.

"Gaara!" came Temari's shrill voice, pulling the redheaded village leader from his musings. "Gaara? What happened? The council says you were just standing there for nearly an hour," she asked, curious of her brother's actions.

Gaara stared at his sister impassively. All of his emotions were locked away presently as it was easier to understand the images and sensations the Others were sending his direction. "They've lost the queen." Gaara stated, the words seemed to be a fact, if cryptic.

"Queen? What the hell are you talking about? Wind Country doesn't have a royal family anymore, the country's bankrupt and they left as soon as the sand rolled in," Temari explained, her face screwed up in consternation.

Gaara, ignoring her, spoke again. "There were two queens supposed to be born... Neither are responding. They need guidance. They need help," Gaara tried as he stared at Temari with cold pure black eyes, The sclera turning from white to midnight black even as his normally green irises shifted as well.

Temari backed away from her brother and called into the hallway, "MEDIC!"

Gaara's skin began to peel back, seeming to melt away as thick, black, hard chitin carapace armor replaced the soft, yielding flesh. The gourd on Gaara's back fell away, melting and molding into a solid, vertebrae-like tail with a sharp point at its tip.

The faces of the council members grew pensive at Gaara's new look. As none had returned from the attack and Gaara had refused to speak on it, the various civilians were wondering if the boy was going berserk again.

"The seal... It's not showing," noted one ninja on the council. All eyes fell on Gaara, noticing that neither the original two seals, nor the seal Konoha created were showing. Instead the boy's skin had gone completely black, his clothing and cloak ripped to rivets.

"What's he doing? This isn't the Ichibi!" noted the elder from before as he rose to his feet. Quickly several Chuunin entered, seeing a creature born of nightmares as Gaara stared at them, his body still human in shape yet darker than black and reflecting the images of the room from every angle. The arriving ninja stepped back when a pale yellow aura began to surround the shell-hardened ninja, growing brighter and more visible with each passing second...

**Konoha Camp: 2 Miles From Sunagakure**

Naruto suddenly sat bolt upright and stared into the distance. "Guys," he said to the Jounin sharing the tent with him. "Something's seriously wrong here..."

Gai looked at the young blonde with hip, cool hair and wondered what he was talking about. "What do you mean, Naruto? We rescued Gaara and confirmed the location of the dead ninja. It's time to return home."

Naruto glared at Gai. "How can you expect me to leave Gaara when I know something's not right with him!" he decreed, taking a stance and looking the Jounin in the eye.

Kakashi gave a sigh. "Those who break the rules are trash, Gai," he began as he cast a lazy glance on Naruto, pulling his Icha Icha book from his pouch.

Naruto grinned from ear to ear as he looked at Gai. "Ad those who abandon their friends are even worse than trash!" he shouted at the man wearing green spandex and orange leg warmers.

Gai was easily moved to tears as he stared into the determined eyes of Naruto. "Naruto-kun! Your Flames of Youth are shining brightly!"

Naruto looked at Gai, his blonde hair blowing in the wind, giving the affect of a woman's fantasy. "Gai-sensei!" he called back with his thumb pointing up.

"N-Naruto-kun!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Lee, Neji, Tenten, Sakura and Hinata stared at Naruto in concern. Each shared one thought: "No, Naruto.. Don't do it!"

But as the desert sand turned into a beach shoreline and Naruto and Gai embraced one another, The entire groups' collective groan was heard. A spectacular wave crashed in the background, pausing as the water made to wet the men as they embraced.

"B-But, Gai-sensei.. That's our special setting," Lee tried, feeling betrayed, his shoulders slumped as a dark clod enveloped him.

Naruto, surprisingly enough was the one that spoke to the boy. "Lee, let our Flames of Youth inspire all of our teammates! Don't diminish your fires in the smoke of jealousy!" Naruto noted, flames in his own eyes.

Lee looked at Naruto, fires burning in his eyes as he pumped a fist. "YOSH! Naruto you have given me something new to aspire for! I shall burn my flames of youth bright enough to make contact with the hearts of every Konoha shinobi!" he declared. "If I fail, I will do two million push ups with the entire Hokage Monument on my back!

**End of Chapter**


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